After Emily had turned onto Blooms Road and had walked on for a little bit, she saw Mr. Garfield’s son, James, standing on the sidewalk. James was twelve, and pretty tall for his age, at about five foot four. He had golden-light brown color hair, just like his mother (his father had dark brown hair), and was very popular and well-liked.
“Hi, Emily!”
“Hi, James!” said Emily, “How have you been?”
“I’m great, but I did find something you might like to decorate your room with!” said James.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Shiny rocks!” said James, showing her.
“How pretty! Thank you!” she said, putting them in her backpack. Occasionally James gave her something pretty from the woods with which to decorate her room.
“No problem! Did you read about the couple that’s coming here in the newspaper?” asked James.
“Yes, I did.” said Emily
“Isn’t that interesting?” asked James.
“Yes, very interesting. Even though she might not speak English very well, I think she will come in handy to have around here, because there is always something people can do, right?” replied Emily.
“Yes, there is.” said James. Just then Hailey, James’s sister, came out of the house.
“Hi, Emily! How are you?” she asked, holding a plate filled with lots of cookies.
“I’ve been good, but busy. How about you?” said Emily.
“Same here. I was just about to do Mom a favor and run these chocolate chip cookies over to your house, but since you are right here, that makes my job a whole lot easier!” said Hailey.
“Thank you! We will most likely eat these up right away!” said Emily, laughing.
“It doesn’t take long to eat up a bunch of cookies. There are sixty of them here, so there is a lot, but still!” said Hailey.
“Sixty of them?! That’s a lot!” said Emily, very surprised.
“Ten for each person!” laughed Hailey.
“No kidding! Well, I better get on home, so bye!” said Emily.
“Bye!” said Hailey and James as Emily walked home.
Hailey, who was thirteen, was tall for her age, and was very pretty with golden-light brown hair that went just past her shoulders, and, like Emily, she was very popular around everybody wherever she went. She had lots of patience, and was sometimes very brave.
It sounded like Allison and Moses were making a big raucous in the living room, for she heard screams and shouts of joy and fun coming from the living room window. Of course, she went inside, and everyone in the living room looked up.
Mom was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, and the family was hanging out in the living room, and everybody in the living room was hot and sweaty from a fun game except Joe, who was sitting calmly in the rocking chair.
“Hey there, Em! What’s the newspaper say?” asked Mom, mashing potatoes.
Mom was very pretty and elegant, had dark brown hair that was naturally a little bit curly, and had soft brown eyes. She was about five foot six, so she wasn’t necessarily tall, but she was definitely not short.
“Hey, everyone! Before I talk about the newspaper, I have some chocolate chip cookies Mrs. Garfield made for us tonight! Sixty of them! Would you believe it?!” said Emily, talking excitedly.
“Yum! We’ll have them tonight for dessert!” said Mom, taking them from Emily and setting them on the counter next to the stove.
“Now for the newspaper.” said Emily, pulling out the newspaper.
“What is it?! What is it?! If this will stop Allie and Moses from climbing all over me, go ahead!” teased Dad. He really enjoyed finding out what was written in the newspaper.
“I thought I heard some young people being loud and shouting when I came in. So, they were climbing all over you?” asked Emily, getting curious.
“Yes, they were, and when they do, it’s hard to play along and keep them off me!” said Dad.
“Newspaper, Emily, newspaper! Focus!” teased Joe, and everyone laughed.
“Why is everyone teasing me tonight?” said Emily, unrolling the newspaper, “It’s very interesting. There is a lady from a foreign country coming to America. Not only that, she’s coming to live here. They are worried about her, because people think she’s a weirdo. There’s more in the newspaper.” and she handed it to Dad.
“Foreign weirdo? Why is she living here?” asked Mom, quite surprised.
“I guess because the dock she will be tying up her boat on is here. It’s not like she’s going to live in Scotsburg no matter what, it’s probably that she doesn’t want to do any more travelling than she has to.” Emily tried to explain.
“Hmmm…this might be interesting.” said Mom, wondering what this foreigner was like while she got the French fries out of the oven.
“What is going on, Emily? What did you say?” asked Allison, now filled with curiosity because everyone else was.
“Yeah, Emily! What’s the news?” said Moses.
“There is a lady and her husband from a foreign country that’s coming to live here in Scotsburg!” said Emily.
“When?! When?!” sang Allie and Moses.
“This Monday, I think, but Dad will read the newspaper to us, so we will find out.”
“Yay! Yay! New person come here! New person come here!” sang Allie and Moses.
“Calm down, Allie and Moses! Way too loud! Let’s have Dad read the newspaper to us.” said Emily.
“Okay, I’ll read the newspaper to all of you so you can get an idea of what the newspaper really says and what other people think about the subject.” said Dad.
Dad was about six foot three and handsome; and just like everybody else, he was full of fun, for it was true that everybody in the Martinelle family was full of fun. Anyway, Dad unrolled the newspaper that had been bundled up again by Emily, and he began to read...
To Be Continued
